Electricity, natural gas and water are examples of consumables that may be monitored, delivered and sold within a metered environment. The metered environment may be configured in an automated meter reading (AMR) configuration and/or an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) configuration. A first example of the metered environment operates according to a mobile mode or state. In the mobile mode, meters may transmit consumption related messages and receive commands, programming or other messages over one or more radio frequencies (RF). The messages may be transmitted/received by a mobile or portable device, which may include a vehicle-based or handheld meter reading devices. A second example of the metered environment operates according to a fixed network mode or state. In the fixed network mode, metering devices are configured as nodes in a fixed network (e.g., a “mesh network” or a “star network”) wherein messages are passed to and from nodes directly or indirectly via a root node or other data collection system.
In many environments, a utility company needs to provide adequate infrastructure and capabilities to not only support normal consumption of consumables, but also provide adequate infrastructure and capabilities to support peak consumption demand. Commonly, utility companies will measure and record peak consumption loads in time intervals over a billing cycle, and use the measured peak loads to bill customers in order to compensate for the overall cost (energy/resource plus necessary infrastructure) of supporting these peak loads.